Arts & Life 7 Da ys a week before 1 1:00 AM $120 or $ 2 100% Familiar Songs FF Breakfast 2 Eggs, 2 Bacon or Sausage hashbrowns & toast with purchase of beverage Show coming to Detroit's Fisher Theatre features 64 Disney tunes. 3 Big Pancakes or Sausage of beverage Buy one entrée at regular price & get the SECOND entrée at 100% OFF! Not good with AM Specials or $1.29 breakfast. With the purchase of two beverages. Up to $15 value. Expires 02/20/05. L 1=11 MIMI MIMI --ellECK OUT OUR NEW MENU ITEMS! • Bloomfield Hills • • Southfield • i Long Lake & Woodward Northwestern at Inkster (248) 647-3400 (248) 358 -1700 • Taylor • Eureka Rd. at -Southland Mall, E. of Telegraph (734) 287-8600 Open 7 da s a week for Breakfas h Now Offering a Full Line of -3'9- Premium Liquor. Beer & Wine! aysian E. Thai Cuisine Malaysian E Thai Restaurant in Michigan 1)4 Homemade for Penang with any Entree i Except Lunch special flnly • With this Coupon. 2:2S !take your reservations now now for our Special Valentine s Day Dinner! 38259 West Ten Mile Road • Farmington Hills, Ml 48335 Tel: 248.615.8866 ■ 248.615-8877 Fax: 248.615.8899 J14 2/ 3 2005 56 MN i•• Wire Here OPEN 7 11A VS A WEEK - Mon-Thurs 11:00 am-9:30 pm • Fri Er Sat 11:00 am-10:30 pm Sun. 12:00 noon-9:30 pm 934550 A scene from Disney's "On The Record": Left to right, Tyler Maynarg Meredith Inglesby Andrew Samonsky Keewa Narulkzh, Andy Karl. SUZANNE CHESSLER Special to the Jewish News C lifford Schwartz can identify him- self as production supervisor for two upcoming shows — On the Recorg the Disney musical soon to arrive at the Fisher Theatre, and his younger daughter's bat mitzvah party soon to be held on Long Island. Music is critical to both. "The music and the way it's arranged in On the Record set this show apart," says Schwartz, 47, who will be overseeing the technical elements during the Detroit run, Feb. 8-27. "The cast, on a sound- studio set, gets through 64 songs from Disney films and other projects to tell the new stories of this production." Two romances, one involving a young couple and another linking a more mature duo, develop without dialogue. The sequenced songs, written over a span of 75 years, join with innovative staging to carry the story lines, which are enacted by eight cast members backed up by a nine-member band. The selection of music reaches back to the 1930s and includes the writing of Jewish composers. Clearly, Alan Menken has the largest impact, with songs from the most recent Home on the Range as well as The Little Mermaid Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, completed with various writing partners. Randy Newman's numbers were heard in Toy Story, while brothers Richard and - Robert Sherman are represented through selections from Mary Poppins. Very familiar tunes include Menken's "Be Our Guest," Newman's "You've Got a Friend in Me" and the Shermans' "A Spoonful of Sugar." "This show is aimed at a family audi- ence, and it's a good way to introduce young people to the stage," says Schwartz, who has supervised five pro- ductions of Aida and three productions of Chicago. "It's for adults who listened to many of the songs when they were kids and are continuing to listen to them. It's also for kids who are listening to the numbers as new songs." "The songs in On the Record give peo- ple a feeling of joy and happiness," says Schwartz, who has toured to Detroit with Big: the Musical and Sing Mahalia Sing. "When I brought my kids to see the show, it gave me satisfaction and enjoyment to watch their faces as they recognized the tunes." As Schwartz visits the tour cities (the show has yet to appear on Broadway) to make sure all the technical elements are in place, he takes time to meet with the people, including the DJ, involved in his daughter's bat mitzvah. Although he doesn't believe the DJ will be inclined to include the music from On the Record for the dancing teenage guests, he's trying to think of a way to get at least one cast member to perform one of the songs. "The music plays out in my head," he explains. "An important part of the beau- ty of the arrangements is the way the music flows between songs. Sometimes, the show has a portion of a song to roll into the next. My favorite is 'Reflection' from Mulan. It takes my breath away because it's so stunning to hear." On the Record runs Feb. 8-27 at the Fisher Theatre. Performance times are 8 p.m. Tuesdays Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. $32.50-$72.50. (313) 872- 1000 or (248) 645-6666.